Ahead of the Trump-Lavrov talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting of the country's security council to discuss US-Russian relations.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he hoped the sacking of Mr Comey would not affect bilateral relations, Russia's gazeta.ru website reports.

Mr Peskov said the dismissal was a "sovereign decision by the US president" and it had nothing to do with Russia.

It's breakfast time on the US east coast, and so the cycle of reaction begins again.

White House adviser Kellyanne Conway has been on CNN:

And Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley has been on Fox News:

And White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been on MSNBC:

Image source, Reuters

As the US continues to discuss why Mr Comey was "terminated and removed from office", President Trump will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the White House later on Wednesday. 

The Syrian conflict is expected to be high on the agenda. 

This is the first visit by Russia's top diplomat to Washington in four years.

Here's our look at how the US media reacted.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey caught Washington by complete surprise. No-one - in Congress, in conservative circles, even in the FBI itself - seemingly had an inkling of what was in store.  

The abruptness and timing of Mr Comey's dismissal, to put it mildly, is highly suspicious.  

Read the full article here.

Michael Hayden, the former director of the National Security Agency and of the CIA, has been speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He said that while President Trump had every right to dismiss Mr Comey, his "dramatic step" had sent "a chill throughout the federal bureaucracy".

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

The Washington Post has some extraordinary detail on the White House Press Secretary's evening - which he spent trying to get some more information on what had just happened to Mr Comey.

Here is a small excerpt from the piece:

After [Sean] Spicer spent several minutes hidden in the bushes... Janet Montesi, an executive assistant in the press office, emerged and told reporters that Spicer would answer some questions, as long as he was not filmed doing so. Spicer then emerged.

"Just turn the lights off. Turn the lights off," he ordered. "We'll take care of this... Can you just turn that light off?"

You can read more here, external.

Image source, PA

This was the reason given by the White House for Mr Comey's dismissal (and in the letters provided to Mr Trump by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy).

The controversy surrounding Mrs Clinton's use of a private email server to hold sensitive government information rumbled throughout her (eventually doomed) presidential campaign.

Mr Comey decided her conduct did not merit criminal charges, then later announced (days before the election) that the investigation was reopened; then flip-flopped. The investigation is now closed.

For her part, Mrs Clinton blames Mr Comey, in part, for her election defeat.

You can read more on the email scandal here.

The sacking of Mr Comey has shocked Washington, with Democrats immediately questioning the reasons for the dismissal. 

Some Democrats have suggested this was aimed at influencing the FBI inquiry into whether the Trump election campaign colluded with the Kremlin. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said President Trump had made a "big mistake". 

He added that unless the administration appointed an independent special prosecutor to lead probe alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russia, "every American will rightly suspect that the decision to fire director Comey was part of a cover-up".  

There has been a mixture of responses from Republicans in Congress - some saying it was important to trust Mr Trump, some saying the news was troubling, some giving more neutral statements.

Here is what former presidential candidate Marco Rubio had to say:

The Senate's majority leader, Mitch McConnell, said in a statement: "Once the Senate receives a nomination, we look forward to a full, fair, and timely confirmation process to fill the Director position."

Here is how Richard Burr, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, reacted:

There's been no comment yet from Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House.  

More on those Watergate echoes... It is not every day that the New York Times carries only one story "above the fold" (the whole top half of the front page).

Mr Comey was in Los Angeles giving a speech when he learned the news of his dismissal.

This is the moment he was escorted through the city by motorcade afterwards. He's the tall bloke (6ft 8ins) at the front.

There's one word doing the rounds in the wake of Mr Comey's sacking while he was leading an investigation into Russian ties to Mr Trump's campaign: Watergate.

The New York Times, for one, external, has pointed out the echoes between this case and the one that sank President Richard Nixon.

Mr Nixon fired an independent special prosecutor investigating a break-in at Democratic National Committee offices and the subsequent cover-up.

Mr Nixon's presidential library have been keen to point out one fact though...

This is the letter President Trump sent James Comey to tell him he was "hereby terminated" (apparently, US media say, with the president's private security guard acting as a courier).

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

The two have had a relationship of ups and downs - starting well before Mr Trump became president, as this video shows.

We're going to be bringing you more reaction throughout the day to the dismissal of FBI director James Comey by President Trump.

In case you're only just joining us, here's what you need to know:

• On Tuesday evening, the White House announced James Comey had been "terminated and removed from office" only three and a half years into a 10-year post;

• The news came as a shock to Mr Comey, who learned of his dismissal by seeing it covered on television - he reportedly thought it was a joke;

• The official reason given for his dismissal was his handling of the inquiry into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server;

• But Democrats said he was fired because the FBI was investigating alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russia.

You can read our latest story here.

We are going to pause our live coverage. Here's a summary of events.

• The White House shocked Washington on Tuesday evening by announcing that FBI director James Comey was "terminated and removed from office" only four years into a 10-year post.
• Comey had been leading the FBI's agency's investigation into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.  
• Comey was addressing staff in LA when he was handed a note by an aide telling him he had been fired. He initially mistook the letter for a prank, the New York Times reported.
• Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who had recused himself from the investigation, advised Trump to sack Comey, prompting criticism from Democrats who called his involvement inappropriate.
• Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for special prosecutor to examine possible ties to Russia.
• Trump will meet Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov tomorrow at the White House.

Image source, MSNBC

FBI director initially thought note handed to him informing him of sacking was a prank, the New York Times reports.

Conway is fiercely contesting suggestions from CNN's Anderson Cooper that the sacking is related to Comey's investigation into the Trump campaign.

"This has nothing to do with Russia," she said, "and everything to do with whether the FBI director has the current president's confidence."

She argued that Comey's sacking is solely about "restoring public confidence in the FBI".

Image source, CNN

Senior Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, famous for coining the expression "alternative facts", is live on CNN defending the president. 

"I think you're looking at the wrong set of facts here," said Conway.

"He acted decisively today," she added, in response to a question about why Trump is now critical of Comey's investigation into Hillary Clinton, despite applauding that decision on the campaign trail.

She denied that Comey's firing was a "cover up".